The Philadelphia Eagles on Monday signed free-agent inside linebacker Brad Jones to a two-year contract and allowed the 4 p.m. deadline to pass without using franchise or transition tags on any of their pending free agents. Jones, who likely will be a backup and special teams player, is a six-year veteran who had played his entire career with the Green Bay Packers, accumulating 293 tackles, 10 sacks and three forced fumbles in 76 games (36 starts). He has also played in seven career playoff games (five starts) and has 32 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. His work on special teams has produced 33 tackles and a blocked field goal. Because wide receiver Jeremy Maclin wasn't...

Related "NFL Pro Bowl" Articles

The Philadelphia Eagles on Monday signed free-agent inside linebacker Brad Jones to a two-year contract and allowed the 4 p.m. deadline to pass without using franchise or transition tags on any of their pending free agents.Jones, who likely will be a...

INDIANAPOLIS — Prospective NFL draftees don't flinch at benching 225 pounds until exhaustion or trying to beat their personal best at the 40-yard dash. They do dread one sentence: "The doctor will see you now."
The NFL combine began Wednesday...

No NFL coach or executive would ever admit to being uninterested in upgrades for any position group, no matter how deep. But the reality for the Philadelphia Eagles as they head to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday is that they almost...

Fear of the free-agent quarterback is what's terrorizing every NFL team that possesses a half decent warm-blooded mammal behind center.
That's why some smart executives — and a few dumb ones — have given average to decent quarterbacks like Ryan Tannehill...

He arrived at his current home in Rhode Island by way of Iowa, Whitehall, Pa., and Foxboro, Mass., among other stops, but Dan Koppen is a proud New Englander now and settling nicely into his post-playing career.
The former Whitehall High School star...

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The odd rules that the NFL tried in the Pro Bowl made for a strange sideshow.
No kickoffs, no blitzing, alternate possessions to start each quarter, two-minute warnings for each quarter and stopping the clock when a running play...

GLENDALE, Ariz. — For one night, the Eagles were forced to play against one another. In the second year of the NFL's new Pro Bowl structure, team captains picked from a pool of players. That meant two Eagles were on the team that Michael Irvin captained...

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Few moved very fast, no one flattened a quarterback and there were no bone-jarring hits in the gentle, friendly version of football played at the Pro Bowl Sunday.
Even in a game dominated by offense, J.J. Watt was the star.
The...

It's a long two weeks between the NFC and AFC championship games and the Super Bowl. The NFL's Pro Bowl on Sunday tries to fill this void, but who really watches this non-contact, boring game that means absolutely nothing. Super Bowl-bound teams don't...

The 2015 season will be NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon's final one as a full-time driver, he said Thursday. … Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he was "shocked" Monday morning when he heard of accusations that his team used underinflated footballs...

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers took a calculated risk last spring when they opted not to re-sign quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with two years remaining on his current deal, opting instead to focus on bolstering the roster elsewhere.
It's going...

PHOENIX — Like sandlot players when they were kids, Hall of Famers Chris Carter and Michael Irvin chose sides on Wednesday night.
This time, they were drafting some of the best football players in the game for Team Carter and Team Irvin in their Pro Bowl...

PHOENIX — Andrew Luck was asked how he felt after Indianapolis' one-sided loss to New England in the AFC championship game.
“The energy is sucked out of you,” he said. “You do feel deflated.”
It's a word the Colts quarterback wished he'd never used, but...

— He finished the season strongly and with absolutely no doubt that he's lost none of his ability.
But 26-year-old Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy also fully understands how the prohibitive base salary of $9.75 million he's due to make in...

GREEN BAY, Wis. — While he appreciates suggestions from Packers fans of remedies for his sore left calf, Aaron Rodgers is not necessarily going to listen to the advice.
Whatever Rodgers is doing appears to be working.
The quarterback took limited...

New team. Same old brash and bold Rex Ryan.
The Buffalo Bills' new coach opened his inaugural news conference with the team Wednesday by tapping the microphone and saying: "Is this thing on? Because it's getting ready to be on."
Outlining...

The official Chip of the NFL is not Kelly, as the Eagles coach has come to rudely find out in a series of entertaining short Tostitos commercials featuring Kelly.
The coach is reminded in each of the 10 vignettes that Tostitos is the official Chip of the...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Rex Ryan is officially going from Broadway to Buffalo.
The Bills announced in a news release Monday that Ryan has been hired to take over as coach. The news came a day after the former New York Jets coach tentatively accepted...

Cornerback Ike Taylor has said repeatedly that young players need to be productive for the Pittsburgh Steelers to be legitimate title contenders this season.
Antwon Blake, a second-year cornerback, answered the call Sunday when a banged-up Taylor was...

A weekly look back at sports in the Lehigh Valley, in anniversaries of multiples of five years.
December 15
1979—Lehigh's bid to become the first team to win a national football championship in two NCAA divisions ends in a 30-7 loss to Eastern...